Pensions struggle with rising prices: Citizens cut back on purchases and choose between food and medicine

The rising cost of basic products has directly affected household consumption. Citizens say that, although these are essential foods, they are now buying smaller quantities and often giving up fruits and vegetables because of their cost.

Pensioners are among the groups feeling the increase in expenses most acutely. They say their pensions are mainly divided between medicine and food, while their income is not enough to cover their daily needs.

“They are very expensive; they are unaffordable. Unemployment is high, and everything is even more difficult for older people. Apart from medicine and other expenses, we have no means. My daughter is unemployed, even though she completed higher education and graduated as a teacher. My son used to work, but with those low wages he can barely get by himself,” one pensioner says.

Another citizen says that prices across the entire consumer basket have increased and that her pension is not enough even to cover medical expenses. She stresses that her children’s assistance has become essential to prevent her from being left without the means to live, while her medicines alone cost 36,000 lekë.

“Things could not get any worse. Everything has become more expensive, without exception. How can a pensioner afford everything on the pension they receive? Without our children’s help, we would be finished. My medicines alone cost me 36,000 lekë,” she says.

The increase in costs has not been observed only in food products. Citizens point out that bread, one of the main products consumed daily, has also become more expensive, placing an additional burden on household budgets.

Beyond the financial difficulties, food quality is also a concern. Citizens mention cases of products rejected abroad because of the presence of pesticides, saying that consumption is being limited both by prices and by uncertainty over product safety.

“With these incomes and these pensions, you cannot afford much. You are forced to choose the cheapest products, but this contributes to malnutrition and many other problems, especially when you hear about toxins and pesticides. Meat has become a rarity. People buy a meatball now and then just to satisfy their craving, without knowing what it contains,” one citizen says.

As prices continue to rise and pensions, according to citizens, remain insufficient for basic needs, families are being forced to reduce their shopping baskets even further. For many of them, choosing between buying food and securing medicine has become a daily problem.